I also really, really like this suggestion about indicating military power, but don't know if this is info you can actually find out in the unmodified game and thus won't be *just* a UI improvement, in which case I understand why you're not doing it.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13444489&postcount=1050
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13444489&postcount=1050